1. Technical Field
Technology disclosed herein relates generally to computer-aided writing composition and to automated computer systems and methods for making written text more concise.
2. Description of the Related Art
Writers face problems arising from various combinations of unnecessary words, passive voice, weak verbs, and convoluted construction. For years, writing texts and teachers have addressed these problems using technical terms—participle, idiom, subjunctive, relative pronoun—or generally advised writers to add vigor to their sentences by writing in the active voice. Although it is possible to become a good writer given enough practice and study, there is a continued need for improved, automated systems that provide the writer an editing method that is quick, precise, repeatable, and productive.
Commercially-available software tools exist for analyzing authored documents to search for common writing problems such as passive voice and useless phrases. These tools are currently very limited. For example, upon detecting a potential writing problem, existing tools commonly provide the user only with general guidance, not specific edits. Where they suggest specific edits, the suggestions are often inaccurate or undesirable. Other drawbacks of existing automated grammar checkers are further detailed in U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2003/0212541, published on Nov. 13, 2003. As a result of these drawbacks, these tools have proved too cumbersome and frustrating to gain widespread acceptance among authors.
There is, therefore, a need for improved and/or automated systems and methods for writing concisely (or making text more concise), which systematically identifies and removes useless words, passive voice, nominalizations, and other writing problems, or helps the author to do so.